CN1205437C - Liquid fuel lighters with mounting ribs - Google Patents

Abstract

A refillable lighter with a pilot has a housing with a hinged lid and has an internal unit housed within the housing by a friction fit enhanced by at least one transverse rib integrally formed on the outside of the housing of the internal unit.

Description

Liquid fuel lighters with mounting ribs

technical field

The present invention relates generally to lighters, and more particularly to a mounting rib for improving the fit between an inner unit and an outer shell of a lighter.

Background technique

Some reusable lighter designs have a housing with a hinged top and a removable insert. This insert contains the functional mechanism of the lighter. Some lighters have a removable inner unit for refilling the inner unit with liquid fuel, while some lighters have a permanent inner unit with a refill port on the bottom or side of the lighter for refilling Fill the liquid fuel reservoir in the internal unit. For a removable inner unit, the optimum fit between the inner unit and the housing is such that the inner unit can be easily removed and reinserted by hand without the use of tools. Proper fit of the inner unit to the housing should not allow the inner unit to move within the housing under normal operation of the lighter. One method for ensuring this fit is to manually spread out the sides of the inner unit at the bottom. After unfolding the sides of the inner unit, this assembly operation entails inserting the inner unit into the housing to check for a fit. If the fit is not correct, the unfolding step is repeated and the process begins again until the match is correct.

Various designs have been developed for the fit between the inner unit of a lighter and the housing.

US Patent No. 1,006,557 discloses a leaf spring attached to the inner wall of the housing for securing the internal unit within the housing.

Also disclosed in US Patent No. 2,541,111 is a leaf spring attached to the inner wall of the housing for positioning and retaining the internal unit.

US Patent No. 2,571,435 discloses an inner container held in place by screws so that it cannot be removed by hand. Four structural members hold the corners of the container, and screws hold the bottom plate in place to hold the container in place.

US Pat. No. 4,133,450 discloses a desktop lighter structure in which the disposable lighter is held securely in the base by flexible vertical fingers with ribs thereon. When the lighter is inserted, these fingers act as a spring to apply force to the lighter to keep it in place.

A casing for a lighter is also disclosed in US Patent No. 4,625,861. The housing is designed to be smaller than the lighter in order to obtain a tight fit.

A casing for a lighter is also disclosed in US Patent No. 4,901,848.

U.S. Patent No. 5,740,905 discloses a set of grooved flaps at the top of the housing that, when the lighter is inserted, deflect inwardly and continue to apply force to the lighter body to hold it in place. bit.

The above-mentioned patents provide various solutions for the cooperation between the internal unit and the shell, but most of these solutions are costly, difficult to manufacture, and prone to mistakes when the internal unit needs to be repeatedly taken out of the shell. Accordingly, there is a need for a relatively simple and durable means of establishing and maintaining a proper fit between the inner unit and the housing for a refillable lighter with a removable inner unit.

Contents of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to meet the above requirements by providing ribs formed on one or both sides of the inner unit housing. The rib takes the form of a horizontally extending narrow. The ribs start at the side corners of the inner unit housing and increase in thickness towards the center of the housing. The shape can consist of a single radius, or it can consist of a combination of radii and chords. The ribs preferably have a varying thickness that is blended at the corners of the inner unit housing and greatest at the center of the housing where the outer shell is most flexible.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lighter having a hollow casing, the casing has a first side wall spaced apart from the second side wall, and a first end spaced apart from the second end wall wall, an open top, and a bottom wall connected to the side walls and end walls; pivotally connected to the housing by a hinge disposed on the first end wall adjacent to the open top a cover; and an inner unit received within said housing, wherein said inner unit has a majority of its width disposed across at least one of said side walls when said inner unit is inserted into said housing At least one transverse rib of the inner unit is dimensioned such that the transverse rib fits snugly into the housing so that the inner unit can be held in place by a friction fit and can be used Taking it out of the housing by hand, the transverse ribs are positioned so that they approach the bottom wall when the internal unit is inserted into the housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lighter, the lighter has a hollow casing, the casing has a first side wall spaced apart from the second side wall, and a first end spaced apart from the second end wall wall, an open top, and a bottom wall connected to the side walls and end walls; pivotally connected to the housing by a hinge disposed on the first end wall adjacent to the open top a cover; and an inner unit housed within said housing, characterized in that said inner unit has at least one transverse direction disposed across at least one of said side walls when said inner unit is inserted into said housing ribs, wherein a cross-section taken along the longitudinal axis of said transverse ribs is formed by circular arcs with multiple radii, said inner unit being dimensioned such that said transverse ribs fit snugly to said inside the housing so that the internal unit can be held in place by a friction fit and can be removed from the housing by hand.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lighter, the lighter has a hollow casing, the casing has a first side wall spaced apart from the second side wall, and a first end spaced apart from the second end wall wall, an open top, and a bottom wall connected to the side walls and end walls; pivotally connected to the housing by a hinge disposed on the first end wall adjacent to the open top a cover; and an inner unit housed within said housing, characterized in that said inner unit has at least one transverse direction disposed across at least one of said side walls when said inner unit is inserted into said housing ribs, wherein the transverse ribs extend from a first corner at which the first side wall is joined to the first end wall to a second corner at which the The first side wall is connected to the second end wall, and the inner unit is dimensioned such that the transverse rib fits snugly into the housing so that the inner unit is held in place by a friction fit. in place and can be removed from the housing by hand.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ignition lighter, the lighter has a hollow casing, the casing has a first side wall spaced apart from the second side wall, a first side wall spaced apart from the second end wall, an end wall, an open top, and a bottom wall connected to the side wall and the end wall; a cover having a pair of spaced side walls and a pair of spaced end walls, the cover passing adjacent the opening a hinge at the top connected to the cover and the first end wall of the housing is pivotally connected to the housing, the cover has a transverse member spaced relative to the end wall of the cover; The inner unit of the hollow shell formed by the first side wall spaced apart from the second side wall, the first end wall spaced apart from the second end wall, and a top plate, the first and second side walls extend to the top of the top plate and form a windshield and two pairs of front and rear tabs, the inner unit has a rod mounted between the rear pair of tabs and for making the cover when the cover is closed The stem is biased against the spring biased plug of the cross member, the inner unit has a sparker wheel mounted in the front pair of tabs, the sparker wheel is adjacent to the flint and is self-contained in A fuel storage tank inside the housing is provided with a fuse extending, characterized in that the internal unit has a majority of the width disposed across at least one of the side walls and is integrally formed therein At least one transverse rib of the inner unit is dimensioned such that the transverse rib fits snugly into the housing so that the inner unit can be held in place by a friction fit and can be used Taking it out of the housing by hand, the transverse ribs are positioned so that they approach the bottom wall when the internal unit is inserted into the housing.

Description of drawings

The present invention is shown in the drawings, wherein in all drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or similar parts, and in these drawings:

Fig. 1 is the side view of lighter of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a partial top view of the lighter showing the position of the internal unit relative to the housing;

Figure 3 is a side view of the internal unit of the present invention; and

Figure 4 is a partial top view of the internal unit showing a preferred embodiment of the mounting rib of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5A-5A in FIG. 3; and

Fig. 5B is another embodiment of the mounting rib of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Referring generally to FIGS. 1-4 , the lighter 10 of the present invention includes an inner unitary body 13 and a housing 16 . The housing 16 has a lid 19 connected by a hinge 20 . Both the inner unit body 13 and the outer shell 16 are hollow and made of sheet metal. The housing 16 has two side walls 22 , 23 ; two end walls 24 , 25 ; and a bottom wall 26 . The housing is open at the top. A hinge 20 connects the lid 19 on top of an end wall 25 of the housing 16 .

The inner unit 13 is preferably formed as a sheet metal shell 28 with an open bottom end 62 and is provided with a wick (not shown) extending down to the bottom end of the inner unit body 13 at a central location. ). A padding of suitable absorbent material (not shown), which may be cotton, surrounds the ignition core and fills the space within the metal shell 28 .

The inner unit 13 supports as its mechanical parts a striker wheel 31 , a flint 60 and a spring biased cap lever 37 . The internal unit 13 has a hollow shell 28 formed by a first side wall 42 spaced apart from a second side wall 44 . The first end wall 46 is spaced apart from the second end wall 48 and the top plate 50 . First and second side walls 42 and 44 extend above top panel 50 and form a wind deflector 52 and front and rear pairs of tabs 54 and 56 . The inner unit 13 has a rod 37 mounted between the rear pair of tabs 56 and a spring biased plug (not shown) for biasing the rod 37 against the cross member 58 when the lid 19 is closed. The inner unit 13 has the sparker wheel 31 mounted in the front pair of tabs 54 . The sparker wheel 31 is disposed adjacent to the flint 60 and spark wick extending from a fuel reservoir defined inside the housing 28 . The operation and construction of these components is described in more detail in US Patent No. 2,032,695, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The inner unit body 13 is placed inside the housing 16 by a tight friction fit. The friction fit must be sufficiently tight so that the inner unit 13 does not move within the housing 16, yet loose enough to allow the inner unit to be removed from the housing 16 for refilling. To refill the lighter 10, the inner unit 13 is removed and lighter fuel is added through the bottom of the inner unit 13 . The elastic baffle (not shown) covering the absorbent cotton is removed by hand, and the lighter fuel is added to the absorbent cotton until filling is complete. The inner unit 13 is then friction fitted back into the housing 16 so that the open end 62 of the inner unit 13 slides down and engages the closed bottom of the housing 16 to form a fuel storage area that is sealed from leakage by a tight fit .

The optimum fit between the inner unit 13 and the housing 16 is such that the inner unit 13 can be easily removed and reinserted by hand without the use of tools. Proper fit of the inner unit 13 to the housing 16 should not allow the inner unit 13 to move within the housing 16 under normal operation of the lighter 10 .

In order to provide a tight friction fit, the inner unit 13 of the present invention is provided with horizontal formations or ribs 70 which preferably extend across the entire width of the inner unit 13 . This rib 70 is integrally formed in the sheet metal shell of the inner unit 13 so that the inner unit 13 can fit tightly into the housing 16 . The horizontal rib 70 extends from a corner 80 where the side wall 22 meets the end wall 24 to an opposite corner 82 where the side wall 22 meets the opposite end wall 25 .

The ribs 70 preferably narrowly adjoin the corners. The corners 90 , 92 of the housing 16 correspond to the corners 80 , 82 of the inner unit 13 when the inner unit 13 is inserted into the housing 16 . The construction of the housing 16 is strongest and has the least flexibility at the corners 90, 92 where the side walls 22 meet the end walls 24, 25. The flexibility of the housing 16 increases toward the center of the side wall 22 where the flexibility is greatest.

Thus, the thickness of the rib 70 preferably varies substantially according to the flexibility of the side wall 22 . In the corners 90, 92 (where the housing 16 is more rigid), the thickness of the ribs 70 is at a minimum. Whereas at the center of side wall 22 (where the flexibility of housing 16 is greatest), the thickness of rib 70 is greatest.

The cross-sectional shape of rib 70 can take several forms, including a single radius (FIG. 5A) or multiple radii and/or chords (FIG. 5B).

The ribs 70 provide several advantages, including minimizing single point contact between the inner unit 13 and the housing 16 during removal and insertion of the inner unit 13, as well as during normal use. By increasing the side contact area between the inner unit 13 and the outer shell 16, the ribs 70 distribute the load over a larger area, thus providing better wear characteristics. The ribs 70 also provide a more stable fit between the inner unit 13 and the outer shell 16 .

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with certain preferred embodiments, this does not bring any limitation to the scope of the present invention, on the contrary, it covers the spirit that belongs to the present invention defined by the appended claims and all alternatives, variations and equivalents within the scope.

Claims (7)

1. lighter, described lighter has hollow shell, and described shell has first end wall, open top that is provided with at interval with the first side wall of the second sidewall spacers setting, with second end wall and the diapire that is connected with end wall with described sidewall; Be placed in hinge on described first end wall by contiguous described open top and be pivotably connected to lid on the described shell; And be contained in the interior internal element of described shell, it is characterized in that:

Described internal element has at least one cross rib of the most of width setting of one of them at least that crosses described sidewall when described internal element is inserted in the described shell, the size of described internal element is made into: described cross rib can closely be assembled in the described shell, so that described internal element can remain on the appropriate location by frictional fit, and can it be taken out from shell with hand again, described cross rib is oriented to: when described internal element was inserted in the described shell, described cross rib was near described diapire.

2. lighter as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, described cross rib is roughly parallel to the diapire setting of described shell.

3. lighter as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, cuts open the cross section of getting along the longitudinal axis of described cross rib and is made of the circular arc with a single radius.

4. lighter, described lighter has hollow shell, and described shell has first end wall, open top that is provided with at interval with the first side wall of the second sidewall spacers setting, with second end wall and the diapire that is connected with end wall with described sidewall; Be placed in hinge on described first end wall by contiguous described open top and be pivotably connected to lid on the described shell; And be contained in the interior internal element of described shell, it is characterized in that:

Described internal element has at least one cross rib that crosses one of them setting at least of described sidewall when described internal element is inserted in the described shell, wherein cuing open the cross section of getting along the longitudinal axis of described cross rib is made of the circular arc with a plurality of radiuses, the size of described internal element is made into: described cross rib can closely be assembled in the described shell, so that described internal element can remain on the appropriate location by frictional fit, and can it be taken out from shell with hand again.

5. lighter, described lighter has hollow shell, and described shell has first end wall, open top that is provided with at interval with the first side wall of the second sidewall spacers setting, with second end wall and the diapire that is connected with end wall with described sidewall; Be placed in hinge on described first end wall by contiguous described open top and be pivotably connected to lid on the described shell; And be contained in the interior internal element of described shell, it is characterized in that:

Described internal element has at least one cross rib that crosses one of them setting at least of described sidewall when described internal element is inserted in the described shell, wherein said cross rib extends to second turning from first turning, in described first corner, described the first side wall is connected with described first end wall, and in described second corner, described the first side wall is connected with described second end wall, the size of described internal element is made into: described cross rib closely is assembled in the described shell, so that described internal element remains on the appropriate location by frictional fit, and can it be taken out from shell with hand again.

6. lighter as claimed in claim 5 is characterized in that, described cross rib has first cross-sectional area at contiguous described turning, and has second cross-sectional area at the middle part of contiguous cross rib, and described second cross-sectional area is greater than described first cross-sectional area.

7. lighter of igniting, described lighter has hollow shell, and described shell has first end wall, open top that is provided with at interval with the first side wall of the second sidewall spacers setting, with second end wall and the diapire that is connected with end wall with described sidewall; Have the sidewall of a pair of interval setting and the lid of the end wall that a pair of interval is provided with, the hinge that described lid is connected by contiguous described open top on first end wall of described lid and described shell is connected on the described shell pivotly, and described lid has the lateral member that the end wall with respect to described lid is provided with at interval; And have by the first side wall from the setting of second sidewall spacers, the internal element of the hollow housing that first end wall that is provided with at interval with respect to second end wall and a top board are constituted, described first and second sidewalls extend to the top of described top board, and be formed with two pairs of tabs of a deep bead and front and back, described internal element has and is installed in described back to the bar between the tab with when the described cap closure, be used to make described bar relying on the spring biasing plug of described lateral member biasing, described internal element have be installed in described before to the flint wheel in the tab, what contiguous described firestone of described flint wheel and a fuel that is limited to described enclosure interior certainly held that the pond extends one leads fiery core setting, it is characterized in that:

Described internal element have cross described sidewall at least one of them most of width setting and be integrally formed in wherein at least one cross rib, the size of described internal element is made into: described cross rib can closely be assembled in the described shell, so that described internal element can remain on the appropriate location by frictional fit, and can it be taken out from shell with hand again, described cross rib is oriented to: when described internal element was inserted in the described shell, described cross rib was near described diapire.

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